Datatec Limited, also known as Datatec Group, is a

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

-based multinational

information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

(ICT) services group. The group's main divisions are: Westcon International, dba Westcon-Comstor, a technology distributor;

Logicalis Logicalis is a United Kingdom-based information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and service provider. The company is owned by Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, ...

, an IT managed services provider; and the companies Datatec Financial Services and Analysys Mason, which provide financing; and telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) consulting services, respectively. It is listed on the

stock exchange, and operates in more than 50 countries across six continents.

History

Datatec was founded in 1986 by Jens Montanana, who became the company's first CEO. The company's shares started trading on the

Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

in December 1994, with share code DTC. In 1996, Datatec launched a joint venture with

UUNET UUNET, founded in 1987, was one of the largest Internet service providers and one of the early Tier 1 networks. It was based in Northern Virginia and was one of the first commercial Internet service providers. Today, UUNET is an internal brand ...

to form UUNET Africa, an internet service provider. In 1997, the company began its international expansion and acquired UK-based IT firm Logical Networks, which later changed its name to Logicalis. In June 1998, Datatec acquired a 92.5% stake in US distributor Westcon, for $160 million. The company then consolidated its five continent distribution business under the Westcon brand. In 1999, Datatec acquired communications consultancy Mason Communications. In November 2000, the company announced it was selling its stake in UUNET Africa to

WorldCom MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...

. In 2004, Datatec acquired UK-based telecommunications research and consultancy firm Analysys for £12.8 million. Analysys was merged with Mason Communications and the new company was renamed Analysys Mason Group (AMG). In October 2006, the company was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

. In May 2014, the company spun off Mason Advisory from Analysys Mason, to focus on IT, cloud, security and mobile technology consulting. In June 2017, Datatec announced it was selling the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n operations of Westcon-Comstor, along with 10% of the remaining part of Westcon (Westcon International) to

Fremont, CA Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth most populous city in the Bay Area, behind San Jose, San Fran ...

-based IT supply chain services company

Synnex Synnex was an American multinational corporation that provides information technology (IT) services to businesses. It merged with competitor Tech Data to form TD Synnex. It was founded in 1980 by Robert T. Huang and based in Fremont, Cali ...

, for a reported consideration of up to $830 million. In October 2017, Datatec announced they were planning to delist their secondary listing on the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

AIM market on December 8 of that year, due to limited liquidity of the shares on AIM. In May 2018, Logicalis Group, a subsidiary of Datatec, has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the issued share capital of Coasin, a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an ICT services provider that also operates in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. In August 2020, Datatec has announced that its subsidiary Logicalis Latin America has acquired a 30% stake in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian Kumulus. In June 2021, Logicalis Group acquired Siticom, a 5G integrator based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Companies

Datatec's companies are in three divisions:

Technology distribution

*Westcon International – a value-added distributor of security, collaboration, networking and

datacentre A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

IT managed services

*Logicalis – an information and communications technology infrastructure and service provider.

Consulting and financial services

*Analysys Mason – a global consultancy and research firm specializing in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sector. *Datatec Financial Services – a financial services provider for customers and suppliers of Logicalis and Westcon-Comstor.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Information technology companies of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg